The US, China and Russia have rejected a resolution put forth by the G4 (Germany, Brazil, India and Japan) to expand the 15-member UN Security Council by 10 seats. The US has firmly opposed the draft resolution stating that the enlargement should take place “in the right way and at a right time.” The G4 introduced a resolution to add six permanent seats to the Council, four for themselves and two for Africa, and four non-permanent seats. Of the Council’s current members, five are veto wielding permanent members — the US, France, Britain, Russia and China. Ten other non-permanent nations rotate in two-year terms. A vote has not yet been scheduled on the proposal. If the UN General Assembly passes it, national legislatures of member countries must approve the change. If the legislature from one of the five permanent members of the Security Council do-es not endorse the resolution, the proposal will die.

Besides being an integral part of the reform proposal presented by the General Secretary Kofi Annan in March, after many years of discussion, the debate on the resolution is the first radical step to increase the Council membership, which all agree still reflects the same balance of power that existed in 1945 when the UN was formed. The majority of the General Assembly members who are debating the issue since Monday are in favour of it though they are still short of mustering the required two-thirds majority of the 191-member Assembly. The bulk of the developing countries including Nepal have supported the resolution arguing that the changed world environment demands a reform in the structure of the Council. It is, therefore, unreasonable on the part of the US to say that the G4 “lack support and a vote on the proposal now would be too divisive,” as the US Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli stated in the General Assembly debate. The members have to cast their votes for the US assessment to come out true and accurate. It would be better if the major powers stop giving lame excuses just to protect their own interests. They have to accept that the traditional power equation has altered in favour of the other emergent powers. The aspiring members are strong partners for Security Council berths both in military and economic terms. They must let the new members come into the Council for a more balanced world order to emerge.